Never Judge a Restaurant in France by its Façade

None of these restaurants have the most inspiring façades. They do not encourage one to think that the inside will be a source of delicious and good value meals, served in an hygienic and welcoming environment. Don't be fooled, or worse, don't let the external appearance of these restaurants and those like them put you off entirely. Step inside and prepare to be won over.

This is la Cuisine du Marché, which is at the end of a row of discount shops, and next to a large supermarket in the town of Yzeures-sur-Creuse. It is housed in an industrial shed, but the chef is popular and takes his job seriously. He comes out mid-service to greet all the diners, and josh and backslap the regulars. The place is busy every lunchtime with shoppers, road workers, foresters, farmers, teenagers in love, elderly couples, and expats who are renovating houses in the area. Unusually for a small rural restaurant, this place is not just a family affair, and has at least half a dozen employees, and the menu has a quite a wide choice. Note the blackboard menu, clearly on display out the front. By law in France, all restaurants must display their menu and prices on the street, so you can make an informed choice about whether you enter or not.

La Gargantua, in the main street of the village of Charnizay, is a fantastic little restaurant. Another one that is packed at lunchtime with local blue collar workers and farmers, it is run by a husband and wife team on their own (and run is the operative word – he cooks and she literally runs around the tables serving when they are full). The lunch menu does not give you a choice, but the evening meal does – see the yellow menu in its display case on the wall.

Le café des sports on the market place in Bonneuil Matours has not had a refurb for quite some time, and the clientele can look a bit rough and ready, but the food is traditional, very cheap and tasty. Again this is family affair, with him running the associated bar, her serving and a cook out the back. If lunch of an andouillette, duchesse potatoes and a pitcher of house red with îles flottantes to follow has not completely filled you up, there is a superb boulangerie / pâtisserie on one of the other corners of the market square.

Susan

Cory Learns to Ride a Bike

When our friends Carolyn and Adrian and their little boy Cory arrived in Preuilly in July, they brought with them a Cory-sized bicycle that they had bought at a car boot sale somewhere in England. For two weeks the grown-ups tested their aerobic fitness to the limits by running up and down the quiet driveways and tracks of Preuilly, keeping up with Cory and making sure he didn't fall off (well, too often, anyway). It only took him a couple of days to get his balance, learn to look up and ahead, and be cycling more or less independently, although he didn't realise this for a couple more days. It's not surprising that he got the hang of it very quickly, as his mum was a gymnast in her youth.

Susan

Three views of the Chateau

Three photos of the Chateau du Lion in Preuilly sur Claise. The second photo is of the large defensive walls that prove that once the chateau was a proper castle, and the third was taken on Christmas eve, 2008.

Over the next couple of months you may notice us not blogging quite as voluminously as in the past - and the posts might be of events past we are catching up on. We will be attempting to blog every day, but the combination of Susan being in Australia for a couple of weeks and me pretending to be a builder means that sometimes we won't have time to think - let alone type those thoughts into the computer.

Simon

Pulling my chain*

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about door knockers and Nick commented that he has a tasteful arrangement of a bell with a string for callers to waggle.

I think his arrangement may look something like this - but maybe with a less (chooses words carefully here...) rustique bellpull than this one seen in Preuilly.

You may have to click on the photo to see it in its full gory.


Simon

*"Pulling my chain" is an expressing that means to "take the mickey". As in- "he's pulling my chain" or "he's taking the mick". I have a feeling this explanation may not have helped some people, so less colloquially, it means to try and provoke a reaction - usually a fairly explosive reaction.

Boudin blanc – 'White Meat Sausage'

Boudin blanc is a very popular traditional style of fresh sausage, made with either poultry or pork meat. The label on this pair say that they can be poached or fried, and the recipe is a country style one from Vouvray.


On the back the label listed the ingredients as: 46.7% pork meat, milk, pork fat, potato starch, onion, salt, whole eggs, 1% Vouvray (a local white wine), parsley, spices, antioxidant, natural pork intestine sausage skin. It also tells me that these sausages were made in Josselin, on the other side of Tours to Vouvray.

I chose to start these off by poaching, then popped them under the griller to give them a bit of colour. They turned out very well, and were very tasty.

Susan

Our Kitchen

One of the people who called last time we were in Preuilly was M.Motté, who came to measure us up for a staircase. We arranged for him to visit a couple of days later with Virginie the kitchen expert.

This is sort of the kitchen we have decided on. You may have to squint a bit to get the full effect, but this is more or less it:

We have gone for the ultra high gloss, almost mirror finished red doors, with "black granite" resin tops. So far we have not received the devis, so, naturally, we can't be sure who will be doing our kitchen (or when).

We have also decided (I think) not to go with underfloor heating in the kitchen. Toasty toes is a lovely idea, but it means either taking up the existing floor (and who knows what horrors we could find under that!) or putting the heating and its associated insulation etc. on top of the existing floor and having a door into the laundry which is only about 5' (1.5 metres) high. As it is now, the kitchen floor is level and solid, but to install the underfloor heating we could have to remove a couple of layers of tiles and concrete. This could be a problem in a building which may have no foundations - a building as old as our house could well be built using one course of stone let into a trench as footings - and that's it.

All these "coulds" look like I'm worrying about something that might not be, but I am swiftly coming around to the "it's been like that for a long time, don't try change it" camp.

So that's kitchen planning just about sorted then!

Simon

Have you noticed our blog loading slower for you lately? Please let us know if you have. I suspect that the "followers" widget which Google recently redesigned is slowing thngs down - it had doubled the amount of guff your computer is having to work through when you read the blog. At the moment I am wondering if the followers panel is worth the effort - it's nice having your smiling faces sitting there, it helps remind me I am writing for people - but I am finding myself getting frustrated by the effort it requires to keep the widget looking as if it belongs.

The Blog Will Not Be Banned!

Phew!

But all the wine professionals with a web presence in France have had an anxious few days.

Since 1991 the French government has been progressively tightening up on regulations regarding the sale and promotion of alcohol and tobacco. This has been driven by the alarming statistics in France for things like diseases of the liver and deaths due to drink driving. The French lifestyle is famous for being behind the long and healthy lives of it's adherents – low rates of obesity and heart disease, despite all that meat and dairy food. What is less well known is that the incidence of liver disease is above average and the French do not always drink in moderation.


A lot of French people drink a lot, and they drink every day. But they don't binge drink, they take their wine with food, and they don't degenerate into out of control agression, so where's the problem you might wonder? The problem seems to be that the food masks the effect of the alcohol, so their livers are constantly dealing with too much, and eventually give up. There is not always a recognition that driving home after a good meal with wine is not advisable either. As to why there is not the associated violence, this is apparently because alcohol does not cause violent behaviour unless one is culturally primed to expect that alcohol begets violence. In France, alcohol is expected to lubricate lively social intercourse, creating an atmosphere of bonhomie, and this is exactly what it does (if you don't believe me, read Watching the English by psychologist Kate Fox).

So no wonder the government has been concerned and has felt obliged to do something. Some good things have come out of the progressive stages of la loi Evin as it is called. Smoking inside restaurants is banned. Advertising alcohol at sporting events and on television is banned.

But the latest round of legislation was bizarre to say the least. It threatened to ban free wine tasting (so you would have to pay to taste before you bought bottles at a vineyard or cellar for instance). It also threatened to ban any mention of wine on the web in France. Huh !! Was the government insane !! What is the single most famous thing about France? Why, if they weren't allowed to mention it on their websites, were all the regional tourist offices (funded by the government) sending out their envoys in a special 2009 campaign to the rest of the world to promote French wine and the wonderful holidays one can have visiting vineyards, learning about French wine and in the process, absorbing an important piece of French cultural heritage??

I first learned about the looming ban some months ago from Olivier Magny's blog, Stuff Parisians Like. He organises wine tastings and has a website to promote his business, so was naturally concerned, and thought the ban was mad. More recently, Jim Budd on Jim's Loire has been highlighting the issue and providing many good links to French wine professionals' websites. His website has pictures of a number of the protests that have been going on around the country (where road signs for Champagne, Bordeaux and the like have been covered and stamped 'Censored', and banners have gone up on wine retailers facades). Not only would websites and blogs focusing on wine potentially be banned, but any website or blog that mentioned wine, let alone promoted it might have been banned.

This sign could have become illegal -
the photo could have made our blog illegal!

Thankfully, once the legislation was actually voted on, it was amended for more sensible arrangements. Now anyone can write about wine on the web in France, with the exception of sites aimed at the young and sporting activities.

So now I can legally tell you that the bottle of wine pictured in the top photo is a Côt made by one of Ken and Walt's neighbours, Jean-Noël Guerrier, and a gift to us from K&W at Christmas time. Although not a heavy wine, it is quite a rich purply red and tastes the way it looks, with blackcurrant and strong tea flavours. We had it with some of my home cured ham, but I think it would have been better with steak.

Susan

Our New Trailer

One of the things we have really needed for quite a long time is a trailer. We recognised this 2 years ago when my parents were in France, and they bought us half a towbar. This was useful, but the aim has always been to buy a trailer so we didn't need to drive to Chatellerault to hire one whenever we had stuff to take to the dechetterie.

We now own a trailer. It isn't a big trailer - 150cm x 100cm (5'x3'). It is this small so that we don't have to register or insure it - it is covered by the registration and insurance of the car. If it had a gross weight of 500kg we would have to get a Carte Gris and do the bureaucracy thing. This provided us with a slight problem.

Most small trailers you can buy in the UK are made in France. In France, they have compliance plates giving a gross weight of 499kg, but for some reason when they are imported into the UK they have a compliance plate for 500kg. We wanted to buy the trailer in the UK because it means I could; (a) speak the language (more or less) of the person selling the trailer, and (b) tow the trailer over to France with stuff in it. It also helps that trailers are cheaper in the UK than in France. After a whole week of research we eventually found someone who imports French trailers with French compliance plates.

So - we finally found a suitable trailer - and here it is!

As you can see, it is a tipper, so if I can remember how to reverse a trailer (it's been a long time since I was an expert on a boat ramp) emptying the trailer at the dechetterie should be a piece of cake. And when I am finished using the trailer, it can be stood on end out of the way.




Simon

Hatch, Match and Dispatch

Every year the town council produce "Les Echos de Preuilly", our Bulletin Municipal. It is stacked full of interesting stuff - a round up of last year's excitements, a calendar for this year's events, a list of tarifs for use of the town's facilities (including the cemetiere), and a list of the council's projets. All this provokes a lot of discussion around the bars in town.

One of the statistics we found particularly interesting:

In 2008 there were 34 deaths recorded in Preuilly-sur-Claise. 24 of the deceased lived in the Maison de Retraite (Retirement Home) at the time of their deaths. And since I've given you the 'despatched' figures, I might as well tell you that there were 4 marriages and 5 births in the the same period.

The average age in Preuilly-sur-Claise is over 6o, I believe, and aging. Presumably as a consequence, the local nursing home is getting a large extension built, and the crane is so huge you can see it from everywhere in town.

Susan

Glimpses 2

This may not be the most beautiful sight in Preuilly sur Claise, but for a lover of textures, it's pretty hard to beat.

Advice for Dog Walkers

This notice is posted on the gate of a private house in Preuilly. It made me smile, but I am also thinking seriously of copying it for our front courtyard. Unfortunately I suspect the Yorkie next door can't read and is not accompanied on his evacuative ventures.

The notice translates as:

Notice to Dog Walkers

Ladies and Gentlemen walking dogs, please have your animal do its business in the designated areas and not on the public footpath.

If unfortunately your animal does not apply the rules despite your suggestions, don't forget that 'Doggiette' bags for retrieving the material are available at the Council Offices, so you will have a clear conscience.

Dogs are our friends, but owners are solely responsible.

Signed: Households calling for a cleaner Preuilly.

Susan

Local Produce in the Supermarket

Look at all this luscious local food that we bought from the supermarket...

There are eggs from Charnizay, boudin blanc from Tours, butter from Verneuil, guinea fowl from Loué, milk from le Grand Pressigny, wine from the Touraine and Manon potatoes from the Loire Valley. Manon potatoes apparently make particularly good chips/frites/fries. They certainly made nice fried diced potato to go with grilled meat.

We've written about most of these before on the blog, so if you want to find out a bit more, click on the links or use the search facility on the blog (top left). To learn more about the wines of the Touraine, you could go to Jim's Loire blog.

From slightly further afield, there are oysters from Arcachon on the coast to the south-west of us and prunes from Agen, about 450km directly south of us. The prunes from this area are certified as having been produced in the Agen area and considered so much better than any other prunes that it is almost impossible to sell a prune in France now unless it can be labelled as coming from Agen.

The kirsch is from Alsace, far to the north east of us on the German border. I would have liked to get a locally made kirsch, but when I went to the Maison de Pays in the Brenne I was told that their suppliers had stopped making it. There are sour cherries, of the sort one makes kirsch from, in many gardens, both private and public in the area, and a tradition of making kirsch in small scale home distilleries here, but the law has recently changed with regard to these types of operations. Up until a couple of years ago, certain families had a traditional, inherited right to make small quantities of eaux-de-vie. Now, only a few very old men continue to produce these special fruit brandies, and once they die or retire, the only eaux-de-vie available will be either illegal or industrial. It's a shame, and I am sorry to have come just too late to have tasted the local product.

Susan

Église Saint-Pierre, le Petit Pressigny

The Church in le Petit Pressigny is a bit of a gem.

Not only is its location quite pretty, but the building itself is interesting. It was started in the 12th Century (which is quite common around here) and altered almost continually until it was listed as a protected monument in 1926. There was some roofing work undertaken in 2008, the result of which is this very sharp looking mini tower over a staircase.

According to the official documents, the ceiling is a false barrel vault (fausse voûte en berceau) - this can be identified by the fact that although from outside it has a gable roof, inside the ceiling is a rounded vault

The bracing on the vault is interesting - highly decorated and colourful - and a bit of a surprise


Simon

A task finished

Welcome back to Simon's Wonderful World of Breaking Stuff!!

Eighteen months ago I started removing the expanded polystyrene backed plasterboard from the utilities room. I know when it was because I blogged about it at the time. The mess I made was obviously so traumatising for me* that I left the job half complete and got on with other stuff.

Because of the problems with our water supply, and not actually knowing where the pipes went, we decided to remove the remaining 2/3 of the sheeting and find them. This I proceeded to do with my customary caution (I didn't know where the pipes were, after all...) but was soon hacking and bashing like the all action hero I am. It soon became evident I had nothing to worry about plumbing wise as the pipes went across the ceiling (which will have to come down soon, oh joy).

Having Susan around really helps me
motivate for the jobs I am trying to avoid

We got confirmation that our utilities room window was once a door, which had been really badly blocked in and needed half a can of expanding squirty stuff to fill in the three inch square gaps (I jest not!). More excellent news is that the worlds hardest cement, which had been laid over the stonework I uncovered last time, wasn't present on most the walls we exposed this time. This cheered me up, as removing the cement was a job I wasn't looking forwards to.

Our laundry door/window. We flirted with the idea
of opening it up again, but it's below ground level

Of course, removing the panels created a huge amount of stuff we need to take to the tip. It's amazing how much rubbish you can take out of one very small room. This is a further impetus for us to buy a trailer (my parents bought us a towbar when they were in Preuilly in 2006, and we have hired trailers in the past, but it's quite expensive) which will enable us to take ALL our rubbish to the dechetterie in one go, and also to buy proper lengths of wood and new plasterboard, rolls of insulation and all the other big butch stuff we're going to need.

The upshot of this is that I was able to wipe one of the things off my "to do" list by the front door.

Simon

*Actually, it was cleaning up that was traumatising, but Susan was here to help this time :¬)

Betz le Chateau

Until a couple of Saturdays ago we had never been to Betz le Chateau, but as we had visited M.Lezeau mid afternoon and had a couple of hours to spare we thought we would go for a drive in the country.

We ended up in Betz, which is a small hilltop town with rather an interesting looking chateau on the outskirts, about which we know nothing. I took a photo of the chateau, but apparently didn't notice its most interesting aspect (I was driving at the time Susan saw it). Still - here is my photo:

I was most impressed, however, with the town's garage. I am not sure if these two are for spare parts or awaiting new owners, but for some reason the picture really appeals to me



Simon

Chimneys

A series of photos of chimneys in Preuilly-sur-Claise. Along with other things, chimneys are never far from my thoughts.

I like the first chimney - very elegant, if slightly impractical. Being lower than the top of the roof (and on the downwind side of the roof for prevailing winds), the smoke would tend to blow down it, kippering everyone inside.

The second chimney is also sort of elegant, and we could end up with a chimneypot like it. Our chimney will come out of the roof right by the eaves and will need to extend quite a height. This would be one way of doing it without adding too much extra weight.

The last specimen is a bit of a worry. Almost as much smoke emits from between the brickwork as it does the chimney. We don't want one like this.

We still have not had our new chimney built. We are now considering having the fireplace rebuilt as well, so we can use an insert fire rather than a stand alone one. This will be safer, and probably more efficient. We posted a photo of our old chimney here. It's the top one (in case you need telling!)

All these photos were taken on the 3rd weekend in February. The sky really was that blue - no digital trickey involved!

Simon

In Preuilly this month

For all of you lucky enough to be in Preuilly sur Claise in March, this is what you can look forwards to:

Today (Sunday 1 March) – Loto – Comité des Fêtes
Bingo - top prize this time around is an ordinateur portable!!

Friday 6 – Concert Jazz Antoine Hervier
A Jazz Trio, there is more about the concert on the Preuilly website

Thursday 12 – Conférence sur l'alcoolisme – CLIC
CLIC (local information centers and coordinating services for the aged) They are aimed at retirees, the elderly and their families, and network with professionals in gerontology and home help. Established on a pilot basis in June 2000 , there are now over 500, in 96 departments.

Saturday 14 – Loto – Ecole Notre Dame
Ecole Nore Dame is the Roman Catholic school in Preuilly sur Claise

Ecole Notre Dame. This school was
bombed by the Germans in 1942.

Saturday 21 – Journées portes ouvertes – Ecole Notre Dame

Sunday 22 – Assembléi Générale – UNRPA
UNRPA is "Union Nationale des Retraités et des Personnes Agées" - The National Union of Retirees and Aged People.

Saturday 28 – Cinéma
The movie this month is (wait for it) Australia. Dubbed.

Saturday 28 – Diner dansant à Ligueuil – Jeunes Sapeurs Pompiers
The next generation of French folk heros let their hair down.

A propos of nothing, a gate in
Le Petit Pressigny

Simon

Le Repas au Safran

Last Saturday, as we have done for the previous couple of years on the third Saturday in February, we dined at l'Image, to partake of Jean-Michel's special Saffon Menu.


As usual, we had booked for earlier than the locals, so as no one else was in the restaurant, we had a drink at the bar and a chat with Christophe. We were introduced to the man who came in soon after us and we all stood around discussing politics, as is proper in France.

The man we were introduced to turned out to be Eric Morin, the photographer, who owns an old building just outside the town. We had heard of him (indeed, we own one of his books, The French Café, which features a picture of a priest paying his bill at l'Image) so it was very nice to meet him. He has done quite a bit of work for the UK magazine World of Interiors, and we have friends who have featured in this magazine, so that gave us another thread of conversation. The 'bon vivant, patron of the arts and author', Alistair McAlpine, as Wikipedia describes him, was another link. Eric described him as très sympa. Alistair McAlpine used to write a column for World of Interiors and at one time had an outstanding collection of Australian outback vernacular furniture. (Most British people will probably just remember him as the Treasurer of the Conservative Party in Margaret Thatcher's day.)

Somehow we got on to the subject of les truffes, and Eric asked if we knew the Truffle Market at Marigny-Marmande. He had bought 3 small truffles there this year, so we were able to compare notes. One of his truffles had been a success, but like us, he found that the other two had good aroma, but it didn't translate into taste. He didn't know why they were such poor quality this year. He also told us a story about a local truffle hunter who had a plantation just coming to the age where it was producing good quantities of fine truffles, but the land is part of the planned route for the new TGV rail line from Tours to Bordeaux, which would effectively disinherit the man's son as truffles are a very long term crop. Christophe reckons the Marigny-Marmande area harvested 20 tonnes of truffles last season. (Later I looked up the figures and according to one source, two seasons ago the harvest for Indre et Loire was 35 tonnes. There does seem to be some ambiguity about the size of the truffle harvest, but according to the same source, in 1900, without the aid of modern innoculation techniques, the natural harvest was 1000 tonnes!)

Jean-Michel emerged from the kitchen, as we weren't giving him anything to do, and joined in the chat (much discussion about the various activities of the new local Council, around the swimming pool improvements and new housing blocks available on the river there, as well as the upgrading of the street that leads to Jean-Michel's one day to be finished house).

Christophe teased Eric about his facial hair, which apparently has been re-sculpted every time they meet. Simon teased Jean-Michel about appearing in the Nouvelle Republique (talking about how the restaurant was going in the current economic climate and what his expections were for the coming year – he says in the season, half the customers in the restaurant are English, but they won't know until May if the English will be back this year). Eric teased Jean-Michel too and addressed him as Monsieur Safran.

Jean-Michel asked Eric if he had seen our blog and when Eric said he hadn't, J-M fetched a printout of my post about cooking his carp recipe! He had auto-translated it into French so he could read it and told us he was particularly interested to learn about the traditions surrounding the fish in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Eventually we moved into the restaurant, after a party of 11 had settled themselves in to lively and very noisy multi-generational French family discussion. In the end, this group, us and another group of 9 who arrived not long before we left, were the only tables occupied, but Christophe told us that they had done 80 covers at lunchtime, and were turning people away, so they were happy. Also, after service finished they were all on two weeks holiday.

Every year Jean-Michel dreams up creative things to do with saffron for all 3 courses, and this year the menu was:

Monkfish and scallops in aspic with sweet spices, dressed with lemon and saffron vinaigrette
*****
Veal breast in orange sauce with Espelette pepper and Preuilly saffron strands served with buttered tagliatelle
*****
Banana mousse with Bourbon vanilla icecream and 'red-gold' custard

While we are in the restaurant we have a chance to chat a little with Martine if she is not too busy. Luckily, between main and dessert she had time to talk and told us how pleased they were with their new staircase in the house she and Jean-Michel have just built. Because the space the staircase was to go into was unusually wide and not standard, several local artisans said they could not even quote to do the job, because they could not just crunch the numbers through their computer programme. Finally, she and J-M found a menuisier from Tournon who quoted in the old-fashioned way and has done an excellent job of the finished staircase. Martine told us how much they had paid and it compared favourably with the one quote we have for our staircase so far. Needless to say, we will be hot-footing it over to Tournon in the near future to visit M. Brunet.

Susan

A lovely pair of knockers

As if I didn't already have enough to think about, the matter of door furniture raised its ugly head the other day as we were walking down the street.

We saw this cute little beast on a doorway near Jill and John's house, and were quite taken by it.

There is an alternate model to be considered, however. It's a bit weird, but for some reason I like the "dead lady's hand holding an apple" knocker.

We will need a knocker, but which one?? Cute or weird?? I think I know which way this one is likely to go...

Simon

Simon works on the bathroom floor

After much deliberation and taking of advice, it was time to start on the new floor for the bathroom.

With our minute hire car (a Seat Ibiza) we went to Bricomarche to buy a 4 metre length of wood. Having chosen what we were after, I was handed a saw to cut it to length so, hopefully, it would fit in the car. I don't do sawing, especially not in public. I have never got the hang of "dad sawing" - you know: a few fast strokes, and then a few slow strokes, finishing off with a few fast ones and your huge log is neatly sawn (nicely explained 4 minutes into this Eddie Izzard video - with swearing). I do mangling. This time, however, I was pleasingly competent, and managed not to embarrass myself. We also bought some expanding bolt things (highly technical here...) and managed to fit it all in the car. Just.

Getting the stuff home and up the ladder - along with all the tools I would need - was interesting, but not difficult.

First move was to chip all the render off the walls so I was bolting the wood directly to the brick. For this the render chipping off pick that Susan's father bought for me last year was used - and it works really well!

Chipping away render - the story of my life

I measured and checked levels, measured some more , made a decision, then cut my wood. Happily, I proved fairly competent using my own saw in my own house, which was nice. I think the first decision I made was not completely correct, but it shouldn't be a real problem. I decided not to take the wood right up to the side walls because the brickwork had been all chased away for pipework, etc.

I drilled the holes in the wood, got my piece of wood absolutely level and then drilled holes in the bricks through the holes in the wood. The expanding bolts didn't work quite as well as I had hoped, as the bricks I was bolting the wood into are really brittle and have split. It didn't help that the first holes I drilled lined up with the mortar pointing rather than brick, either....

I think the solution (next time I am working on it) will be to drill completely through the wall and use stainless steel threaded rods and a bracing plate. Or maybe just big bolts (18mm bolts, 20 cm long) through a metal plate on the outside wall and into the wood.

Anyway - I have started, and done what I think is probably the most technically challenging part: reaching across what amounts to a void to bolt a lump of wood onto a wall, and getting it level.

Next step - floor!!

Simon